


Impossible

by Polaris_Stella



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: AU, Angst, Blood, Crying, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Fluff, Family Loss, Family Reunions, Gen, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Mild Gore, Natural Disasters, Post-Canon, Post-Weirdmageddon, Protective Grunkle Stan, Protectiveness, family love, tsunarmi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:32:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8773798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polaris_Stella/pseuds/Polaris_Stella
Summary: Ford and Stan invites the twins and their parents to Thailand, where they are gonna spend Christmas together.Everything is great, until a Tsunami hits.The Pines now have to overcome pain and wounds, to become reunited, but is the power of love stronger than the power of the elements?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me. The show belongs to Alex Hirch and the movie The Impossible, that inspired this fanfic belongs to Juan Antonio Bayona and María Belón

It was suppose to be a nice time. A fun trip for the whole family.

Stan still remembered the conversation between him and his brother. No: His brother and himself, as Ford would have corrected him. Normally Stan hated being corrected, but right now he would give anything to hear his older twin brothers haughty voice, telling him how to talk right.

Stan remembered how happy he had been for his brother, when he had won a price and a huge cheque, at some kind of science fair, or whatever. They had celebrated Ford's victory, and the next day, they had started the discussion:

_"So? Have you decided what you wanna do with that load of cash yet?" Stan asked._

_"Not exactly," Ford answered. "I have given it some thought though."_

_"Yeah? Like what?"_

_"Well, we aren't exactly financially strained, so I was thinking about spending it on something special, yet sensible. Like for example the beginning of a new project, that could help improve energy consumption in most of the stat. Possibly the whole country."_

_"Hmm... I guess that's good," Stan said, leaning back in his chair. "It's your money, so it's your call."_

_Ford gave his twin-brother an analyzing look, trying to read his body-language. "If you have any suggestions, then I would like to hear them."_

_"Well," Stan said, sounding like his was really thinking about it. "I was thinking, that it would be nice to spend the money on a trip."_

_"A trip?" Ford repeated, with a raised eyebrow. "Stanley, we've just finished sailing around most of the world."_

_"I know, Poindexter. But I was thinking about inviting Dipper and Mabel, on a Christmas holiday, to some place where it's warm."_

_"Hmm..."_

_"Come on, Sixer, it would be fun! Not to mention; nice to spend time with the kids again."_

_"I suppose that you're right. But where had you envisaged that we would go?"_

_"So you are up for it?"_

_"Yes," Ford said. "It would be nice. But we'll have to ask Patricia and Brian, if Dipper and Mabel can go, first."_

_"Ha! Let's invite them too, just for the heck of it!"_

_They started researching, and finally agreed on going to Thailand, where they had found very nice hotel. They called up their family in California the same night._

_"Hey kids!" Stan said, when his great niece and nephew showed up on the screen._

_"Hey, gruncles!" Mabel answered and waved._

_"How are you doing?"_

_"Pretty good," Dipper answered. "Even though everything here is pretty boring compared Gravity falls."_

_"I can only imagine," Ford answered._

_"Hey, how did the Science fair go?" Dipper asked. Ford had asked him if he would like to join him, but unfortunately his parents wouldn't let him skip school._

_"Well, I have to admit that I was pretty impressed by the competition. Technology has for sure improved the last 30 years."_

_"But ya still beat all of their smart asses!" Stan said, wrapping an arm around his brother's neck._

_"That's amazing!" Mabel cheered._

_"Yeah congratulations!" Dipper said._

_"Thank you, thank you," Ford said, waving his hands in front of the screen, like he was getting embarrassed._

_"Did they give you one of those giant cheques?" Mabel asked._

_"Why yes, they did."_

_"Please, please, please, gruncle Ford, can I pleeeeeeaaaaase see it?"_

_"Of course. I'll just go get it."_

_"Yaaiiii!" Mabel's eyes got twice as big, when her gruncle brought in the large piece of paper. She had seen cheques like that on TV, and she had always wanted to see one in real life (even though she already had seen one, when Gideon had tried to trick Stan into signing over the Shack to him, but that had been fake, and she wanted to see a real one), and seeing her gruncle holding it over Skype, was almost as good! "Wauw! Dipper, look at all those zeros!"_

_"You're right, that's pretty impressive," her brother agreed. "What are you gonna spend all that money on?"_

_"That is actually the reason we are calling you. But before we tell you, could you please make you parents join us?"_

_"Sure." Dipper left the room, and less than five minutes later, all six Pines' was gather together over the computers._

_"We would like to give you an early Christmas present," Ford explained._

_"So you're all invited to Thailand, when the holidays begin!" Stan finished._

_"Seriously?!" the twins exclaimed._

_"That's so generous of you," Patricia said. She was tall woman and had long, blond hair._

_"But we can't accept that," Brian said. Just like every other Pines, he had thick brown hair._

_"Nonsense!" Ford said. "Now, what date would you like for us to book the flight?"_

_Stan sighed and tucked the blanket tighter around Mabel, who was sleeping beside him. "Don't worry, sweetie. Tomorrow, I'm gonna find our family," he promised. Words couldn't describe how much he hoped that he was right._

o*o*o*

"Ready for a new adventure?" Dipper asked, when they had found their seats on the plane.

"You know it, Bro-bro!" Mabel answered. She had been excited for this, ever since their gruncles had invited them, more than a month ago. Of course she had been very disappointed, when she had realized that Waddels couldn't come with them, since all the hotels had a very strict politic against bringing pets. Stan had been very close to threatening the owners, just like they had done with the bus-driver, but Ford had convinced him otherwise. Mabel had been devastated, until Soos had offered that Waddels could spend the Christmas in Gravity falls.

Brian put the suitcase away, and was about to sit down, when Patricia said: "Oh, erh Brian, could you please ask Stan to come over here? There is something I have to talk to him about."

"Honey, we are about to take of," Brian said.

"Could you switch seats with him then?"

"All right then," Brian mumbled.

"You wanted to talk to me, Trisha?" Stan said and sat down beside her.

"Actually, I just wanted Brian to sit beside Ford," Patricia explained.

Stan looked to the seats, where his nephew had just sat down, and back at Patricia. "Why?"

"Because, they don't really know each other. I think it would be good for them to spend some quality time together."

"Hmm..." Stan looked back at his brother and nephew. Now that he thought about it, Patricia was right: Brian and Ford had never really spoken more than a few words before. It actually seemed like Brian was avoiding it. "I think Brian is freaked out, because of his hands," Stan mumbled.

"You do?" Patricia asked, hoping that she sounded surprised. The truth was that she had been thinking the same. "Why do you think that?"

"Because I've seen it before, plenty of times, Trisha. All the time when we were kids. Either people would bully him, or simply stay away from him, like he had some kind of disease."

Patricia felt her heart drop. Stanford was a good man. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment! Especially not from his own nephew! She knew how painful it could be, when you were excluded because you were different. She had seen the pain so may times in her own son's eyes, when he was picked on, because of his birthmark. At least Mabel had always been there to cheer him up. "Well, then it's good, that he had such a caring brother."

Brian shifted uncomfortably in his seat beside his uncle. He felt like he had to say something, but what? It felt weird to say something like `thanks for the trip!´. They had already thanked them!

Brians eyes caught on the book, which Ford was reading, but he couldn't see the title due to the fingers covering it. Five long fingers. It was just so... weird!

Ford turned his head and Brian knew that he had noticed the staring! "So, erh, what are you reading there?" Brian asked, trying to cover for his mistake.

"Ah, it's an old classic, called Moby-dick," Ford answered.

"Oh, that sounds exciting. What is it about?"

Ford gave him a surprised look, and Brian realized how stupid his question had sounded. Ford then gave a long summary, but instead of listening, Brian tried to figure out, why he was so awkward around his uncle. The birth defect did make him feel uncomfortable, but he should be able to overcome that. It didn't make it any better that the man was a genius... Brian couldn't even keep up with his own son, so how was he suppose to say something that was interesting enough, to start a conversation with Ford?

"So... I've always thought that it's kind of funny, that there is no twins in my generation, you know: You and Stan in your generation and Dipper and Mabel in their generation, but none in mine, I mean... Isn't it something about that twin are genetically?"

"Well yes, it is true that it is genetically, but not in that way. You see; every woman can have monozygotic twins like my brother and I, but that doesn't go for dizygotic twins as Dipper and Mabel; only women are able to have the gene as dominant, while men only are able to carry the gene recessively and pass it on to their daughters. That means that Dipper and Mabel being twins is caused by genes from Patricia's family."

"Oh... I see," Brian mumbled. The rest of the flight was painfully awkward.

It got better, when they landed, and started talking to the others again.

Mabel was so excited, that she totally forgot to look where she was going and Dipper had to hold an arm in front of her, to prevent her from walking out in front of a car. He had to admit that he was excited too though. Everything was so different from California and he couldn't wait until he could get out and explore the animals and plants, with great uncle Ford, and just have a great time with his family!

The hotel was amazing. Stan and Ford had rented two, great cabins and despite how warm it was outside, they were lovely cooled down inside.

"Dipper, look! There's a pool outside!" Mabel cheered. "Let's go for a swim!"

"Now hold on, young lady," her mother said. "You have to help unpacking first."

"Orh, mooom!" Mabel said.

"Hey, the quicker we unpack, the quicker, we can go swimming," Dipper said. It was enough to motivate his sister and soon they had unpacked all the suitcases and were splashing around in the pool.

"This was a magnificent idea," Ford said, as he watched his family enjoying themselves.

"Of course! It was my idea, Sixer!" Stan answered and both of the laughed.

In the evening, they ate at a fancy restaurant, and Stan and Ford talked about some of their adventures at the Stan' O war II (they had already told them plenty of times by now, but Mabel just loved hearing them!). After dinner, they walked down to the beach.

"Wauw! Look at all those stars!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Here you go, pumpkin," Stan said, and lifted her up to sit on his shoulders.

"Look, a shooting star," Dipper said.

"I wish, that this will be the best Christmas ever!" Mabel blurred out.

"I'm sure that, that wish is gonna come true, kiddo," Stan said.

Patricia couldn't help smiling. She adored the sweet relationship her kids and their great uncles had. Her kids had always seemed like they had some... difficulties, fitting in, in California. But somehow Stan and Ford had managed to make them more open-minded to new things, not to mention capable of handling them!

"We should probably get back to the others, if we want to make it to sending off the lanterns," Brian said.

o*o*o*

"Pst, Dipper. Dipper," Mabel whispered.

Still half asleep Dipper scratched his cheek, where Mabel had been poking him.

"Dipper," Mabel tried again and poked harder this time.

"Urh... Mabel," Dipper mumbled, as he started to wake up. "What is it?"

"I can't sleep. Will you go out and watch the stars with me?"

"Mh... No," Dipper yawned. "Go back to sleep, Mabel. We'll watch them tomorrow, okay?"

Mabel went back to bed feeling very disappointed. She loved looking at stars, but it was no fun doing it on your own.

o*o*o*

"Sshh, shh," Stan whispered. It wouldn't be fun if the kids weren't asleep. He carefully pushed the door to the kids' room open. Both of them were still fast asleep. Stan waved the others into the room, and gave then sign to be ready. They nodded, and Stan lifted the horn and blew it as hard as he could!

The twins immediately woke up; Mabel screamed and Dipper fell out of the bed, making Stan laugh out loud: "Rise and shine, kids! Your gifts are waiting!"

"Gifts..." Mabel began, rubbing her eyes. "Oh my gosh, Dipper! It's Christmas morning!" She rushed over and grabbed her brother's wrist. "Come on, let's go!"

Patricia and Brian followed their kids down stairs.

"Come on, Sixer, you're gonna miss all the fun," Stan said, when he noticed that his twin brother was just standing there, looking out of the window.

"Yeah... I'm coming, Stanley."

"Hold on, I know that face. What's wrong?" Stan asked, holding a hand out to prevent his brother from walking down stairs.

"Nothing... I..." Ford began, but the look in his brother's eyes told him, that Stan wasn't buying it. "I just had a weird feeling, that's all."

"Yeah? What kind of feeling?"

"That... something is wrong." Ford lowered his voice. "I know this might seems peculiar to you, but when I lived in the dimensions, I adapted the ability to envisage dangers that might come. I haven't experienced it here, before, but now..."

"Now you think that something dangerous is gonna happen to us?" Stan finished. "Like what?"

"I don't know, Stanley... It's probably nothing. Let's just go join the others, shall we?"

"Now you're talking, Sixer!" Stan said and wrapped his arm around his brother's neck. "When will you ever stop worrying, huh?"

Mabel was thrilled when she watched her family open her gifts. All of them were homemade, and every single member of the family, seemed to love it. Especially Ford was very fond of the six-fingered glows she had knitted.

Patricia was very surprised, when she realized that Stan had given Dipper a pair of boxing gloves, but Stan argued that he had been even younger when he had gotten his first pair.

"Come on, open your gift, gruncle Ford!" Mabel said and handed him another box.

"But you already gave me the glows?" Ford answered surprise.

"Yes, but this one is from all of us!"

Ford opened the box and found a brand new laptop inside.

`Well that's just great,´ Stan thought. He had finally managed to get his brother away from all of his nerd-work and now they gave him a computer! Stan knew that there was no way he was gonna get his brother away from it, when it first was started up. Heck, this was gonna be worse, than the first time he had tried using an iPad!

After opening the remaining presents, Dipper and Mabel started teaching Ford how to operate a modern laptop. Ford quickly learned that it was much different from his old one, and listened carefully, as Mabel showed him how to change the background, and Dipper explained how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.

It was around noon, when the family went out to the pool, except Ford, who brought the laptop to his room.

"Seriously, Poindexter, quit being a nerd for one day, and have some fun, would you?" Stan asked.

"I didn't work yesterday," Ford argued. "And I promise that I will join you soon. I just have to take care of a few things first."

"Yeah, right. You're hopeless, Sixer," Stan mumbled and went down stairs to the pool, where Dipper and Mabel already were splashing around.

Ford wasn't the only one, who was concerned with his work though. "A penny for your thoughts," Patricia said, as she sat down beside her husband in the deck chairs.

"Just some work."

"You are just as bad as your uncle," Patricia said.

"Hmm... Patricia, we might have to move," Brian said.

"What? Why?" Patricia asked and sat up straight.

"They want me to cover the field in Oregon."

"Oregon? You mean that you are getting promoted?"

"I don't know for sure, yet, but it's possible." Brian sat up, and looked her into the eyes. "And I was thinking, that if I do so, we should move to Gravity falls."

"Brian, the kids would love that!"

"I know. But I don't think that we should tell them, before we are sure that I get the job."

"You're right. We'll deal with that when we get home," she said and kissed him on the nose. "Honey, you forgot sunscreen. You know how easily you get a sunburnt!"

"Yes, my love," Brian said and walked inside.

Dipper ran past him and climbed the springboard. He was about to jump, when he suddenly felt a very strong and cold wind. How odd, it had been windless yesterday, and until now. He then noticed that a large group of birds flew over them, like they were fleeing from something... "Come on, Dipper, don't be such a sissy!" he heard Mabel call.

"Yeah, what are you waiting for? Jump, kid!" Stan joined in.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!" they both started to cheer.

Ford was still working on the laptop, but he couldn't shake the feeling from earlier. In fact, it only seemed to grow stronger. He kept telling himself that it was just his imagination, and that he was being paranoid. But then the water in his glass, started to shake. Ford look out of they window, and saw Dipper standing on the top of the, springboard, trying to look over the roof of the cabin, with worried eyes. Ford got up and opened the window. "Dipper? What do you see?" he called.

"I'm not sure..." Dipper answered.

Everything was shaking now and Dipper grabbed the banister. He could now hear the screaming! It was coming from the beach. Something was rumbling... Palm trees started to fall... Then he saw it. Even though everything happened so quickly, it felt like it was all in slow-motion:

"TSUNAMI!" Dipper screamed. The panic spread as fast as the water, that was flushing over them, destroying everything on it's way! Stan grabbed Mabel, trying to swim or run in the water, what ever could get them away as quickly as possible. "MASON!" he heard his mother scream. He managed to free himself from the frozen statement of fear, and jumped into the water, only a few meters from Stan and Mabel. "DIPPER!" Mabel called. He reached for her hand, but before their fingertips managed to touch each other, everything became blurry! Dipper felt himself getting smashed around, small and larger things hitting him from every angle as the wave forced him with it! He managed to reach the surface, for a brief moment, and inhaled all he could, before he was pulled under, once again!

Everything was getting darker, around him. He couldn't breath. He could only feel the pain coming from everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna be pretty emotional


	2. Chapter 2

Pain. That was all he could feel. Every little inch of his body, felt like it had been down the Manotaur's pain-hole. The worst part was his chest. The lack of air formed a heavy pressure, that made him want to inhale, as much as his lungs could handle. But Dipper knew, that if he did that, his lungs would be filled with the salty water around him.

He opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything. Everything was so foggy. He shut them again, fearing for splinters and other sharp things to hit him. He didn't know how far he was from the surface. He wasn't even sure whether he was facing it or not. At first he had tried to swim towards it, but each time something would knock him back down.

He suddenly felt himself bump into something hard. Dipper opened his eyes, and saw something blue. The water still kept pushing him against the metal-like surface of the object, as he let his hands run over it. He finally found something to grab onto and pulled himself up. He reached his other hand further up and felt cool wind blow against it! He was close to the surface! He let his hand go further up the blue object, until it found something to grab onto. He gritted his teeth as he pulled himself up. He finally managed to get his head above the surface and filled his lungs with the cold air around him, and coughed. He had never thought that it would feel this good to breath.

When he finally was able to breath somewhat normal, he opened his eyes again and looked at the object he was holding on to. It was a blue car. His one hand was holding on to the door-handle, the other a broken window. He used the remaining strength in his sore body, to pull himself upwards, until he was able to reach the roof of the car. His body protested at every small movement and Dipper once again gritted his teeth, until he finally managed to drag himself to the rooftop, where he laid himself flat on the back, and just breathed, with a hand holding his aching chest.

After lying like this for several minutes, he forced himself to sit up and examine himself. He skin was covered in small cuts and scrapes, and hurting stops, which without doubt would become bruises, but besides that, it didn't seem like he had gotten any serious injuries…

He looked around. All he could see, was water. Lots of palm trees were downed, and all kinds of idioms were flushing past him. How come the car wasn't moving too? He looked around, and realized that the only thing keeping it from getting flushed away as well, was a large palm tree that had been knocked down by the horrible wave…

Dipper looked inside the car, but there was no one in there. He was alone. His heartbeat started racing. He couldn't see anybody anywhere.

"Hello!" He called out. Everyone had been flushed away. "MOM!" he was breathing faster and faster. "DAD!" They had been around the pool. He had been about to dive into the water. "MABEL!" They had been so close… He had been this close to take her hand. "GRUNCLE STAN!" They were gone… they were all gone! "GRUNCLE FORD!" he kept screaming their names on the top of his lungs, not caring about the pain he felt in his chest. Why was nobody calling back? He waited, still breathing fast, hoping to hear their voices, but all he could hear, was the sound of the water, flushing past him. "MABEL! ANYONE! PLEASE!"

"Mason..!" he suddenly heard someone call. He turned around and saw his mother struggling against the strong stream to keep her head above the water.

The sight of his mother, made Dipper feel something he hadn't felt, since he was a little kid. The silly feeling, that everything would be all right, now that mom was here. Even though he knew that his mother wouldn't be able to do anything about this natural calamity, his still clung to that feeling, as he waved his arms over his head. "Mom! Over here! Over here, mom! Over here!"

"MASON!" Patricia managed to grab onto the fallen palm tree, that was holding the car. Dipper slid down from the roof of the car, to the trunk, where he laid himself flat on his stomach, to spread out his weight. He then reached his hand to his mother, who grabbed onto it, as she used the trunk to get closer to the car and closer to her son.

"Mason," she coughed. "Honey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, mom," Dipper panted. "I'm okay."

With her son's help, Patricia managed to get up from the water and climb to the roof of the car, where she embraced her child. It was the only thing she could do, to make him feel the least bit safe.

o*o*o*

Mabel was caught in something. Something soft, warm and wet… She could hear something that sounded like a drum, near her ear. No it wasn't a drum, it was a heartbeat. A very weak heartbeat. It was a person who was holding her!

Carefully she started to wriggle, and stretched her arms, to make the person let go. The arms around her loosened up and she managed to pushed self away from the body, and out on the cold, wet ground. She laid still, breathing in some of the cold, fresh air, before she opened her eyes to see the other person beside her.

"Gruncle Stan!" she exclaimed, when she realized who the person who was lying unconscious on his side was. Mabel crawled over and pushed him to lie on his back. His body was covered in cuts, scrapes and dirt, one of his lenses in his glasses was broken, the other scratched. And he wasn't breathing!

"Gruncle Stan!" Mabel screamed. She placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "Wake up. Gruncle Stan! Please wake up! Gruncle Stan! Gruncle Stan!" she cried, but it wasn't working. "No, no… HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" she screamed. "HELP US! PLEASE HELP! HELP…!"

No one answered her calls. There was no one here. They were alone… All alone. The wave had taken everyone away. Dipper, mom, dad, gruncle Ford... She remembered it clearly, as the memories flashed before her eyes. She remembered Dippers scream, warning them. She remembered reaching for him, as the wave flushed over them, and forced them apart. And she remembered gruncle Stan wrapping his arms around her and holding her close, as the water forced them out of the pool and made them spin around...

"Please... don't leave me too, gruncle Stan," Mabel cried. She couldn't just let him die. She had to do something to get him back to life... but what? Dipper would know what to do, but he wasn't here. "Come on, Mabel, think!" she mumbled. They had learned something in school about this. CPR. What was it now? She knew this! "Don't worry, gruncle Stan, I'm gonna make you undead!" Mabel promised and placed her hands in the middle of his chest, even though she knew that his heart was still beating. It was the only thing she could think of…

She started pressing down, using all of her body weight. "1..2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.." this had to work, it just had to. "7.. 8.. 9.. 10.. 11.." He couldn't die. He just couldn't. "12.. 13.. 14.. 15.." He had saved her life. He had used his body as a shield to make sure that none of things around them would hit and hurt her. "16.. 17.. 18.. 19.. 20.. 21.." He had save her life some many times... And Dipper's and Waddel's and gruncle Ford's. "22.. 23.. 24.. 25.." He had given everything to make sure that they were safe. It wasn't fair that he would die now! It just wasn't fair! When she reached 30 she stopped and crawled up to gruncle Stan's mouth. How was it now? She bended he head backwards, to make sure his airway was fire, before opened his mouth and blew in some of the fresh air, twice.

She then went back to his chest and started pressing again. Even though her arms were getting sore, Mabel kept counting and pressing on her gruncle chest and given him artificial respiration. She didn't care how many times she would have to do it, before gruncle Stan woke up. Cause he would, right? This would make him alive again, right? It had to! She had no idea what to do, if he left her alone here. She didn't even know where she was!

"Come on, gruncle Stan," she cried. The tears were running from her eyes as she kept pressing. "You can do it!"

After countless presses and lots of tears, water suddenly came flushing out of his mouth and he sat up with a jerk and counted violently.

Stan felt like he had been stuck in a tumble dryer for hours. But he knew that it had been much more serious than that. Even though everything seemed blurry, he knew everything around him was destroyed. Stupid water!

"Gruncle Stan!" He suddenly felt something grab his arm.

"Mabel..." he gasped. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered. "I'm so glad that you're not dead!" It almost sounded like she was crying...

Stan put an arm around her. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'm fine," he promised, even though most of his body hurt like hell!

"Gruncle Stan, your foot!" Mabel exclaimed.

"What? What's wrong with it?" Stan asked. It actually did hurt a lot. More than the rest of his body. Shit, what if it had been ripped of? He doubted that he could find anything to stop the bleeding, and even worse: Mabel would see it! He knew that even if he told her to look away, the kid simply wouldn't be able to do that.

"It's twisted the wrong way!" Mabel answered.

Thank Moses, Stan thought as he reached for it. It hurt even worse when he wrapped his hand around it, but luckily he didn't have to touch it for long, before he knew that his ankle had been dislocated. Damn it!

"Does it hurt a lot?" Mabel asked. She sounded so worried.

"Don't worry, sweetie, it's not that bad," he tried to convince her. "I know it looks bad, but I can fix it."

"You can?" Mabel asked very surprised. "But you can barely see without your glasses."

"I don't need to see, to know what to do, pumpkin. It's a piece of cake really. I've done it lots of times before," he assured her. "I just need a little help from you."

"But, gruncle Stan, I've never, tried something like this before. I've once helped Soos clean Dipper's wounds and put on bandage, but I've never tried to fix an ankle before, I don't know what to do!"

"Calm down, pumpkin," Stan said, before she got too worked up. "All I need you to do, is find me a bough I can use as a crutch, okay?"

"Yeah," Mabel answered. She was starting to sound calmer. "Yeah, just leave that to Mabel!"

"Good, but don't go too far away, got it?" Stan said.

Mabel got to her feet and ran of. "Okay!"

As soon as Stan was sure that she was far enough, he sighted. He let his hands search the ground around him, until he managed to find a small piece of wood. He needed something to chew on, to make sure that he wouldn't bite of his own tongue. Got dammit this would hurt.

Some of the things he had told Mabel, were true though: he had tried something like this before. More than 30 years ago, where he had been in a fight with a gang, and he had had to take care of it himself, because he couldn't risk going to a hospital. It had hurt like hell back then and he knew that it would hurt at least as bad now.

He put his hands around the foot, and took a deep breath. "Come on, Stan, just get it over with," he told himself. He had to get it done, before Mabel came back. He couldn't let her see him like this. "1..2..3.. urh!" It hurt much worse than he remembered it, when he forced his ankle back in place. "Son of a b..." he began, and started spitting out the piece of wood that had cracked in his mouth. Yuck!

He pulled of his glasses, and tossed them away. They weren't any good no more...

Mabel was right though: he couldn't see shit without them. Everything was so blurry. It was like all the colors around him melted together in front of him... He could just make out a figure, that was moving towards him. As it came closer, he realized what it was. "Look, sweetie, I fixed the foot," he said proudly and smiled. His smile faded, when he heard her voice:

"Gruncle Stan..." she began.

"Mabel what happened?" he asked instantly. He could hear her sobbing.

"I.. I saw so many... people... so many dead people, gruncle Stan."

He heard something hitting the ground, which he assumed was the branch he had asked her to find. What had he been thinking?! He should have known that lots of people had drowned and worse, and that they would be lying all over the place! How could he have send Mabel out on her own, and risk seeing that? Stupid idiot!

"I'm sorry, pumpkin," he said. Mabel moved closer and laid her arms around his neck. He pulled her close, wanting to protect her. Protect her from all the horrors she had seen. She was an innocent child, and she didn't deserve to go through all this. "I'm sorry." He kept repeating that, like it would actually do something good, while he rocked her back and forth and she cried against his shoulder. He didn't know how long they sat like this, and frankly he didn't care either. He would sit like this for hours, if it could make the kid feel the least bit safe.

Mabel let go of him and rubbed her eyes and sniffled loudly. "I.. I didn't see mom or dad, or Dipper, or Gruncle Ford."

That was a weight off Stan's shoulders. If she had seen one of them dead, it would have destroyed her!

"What if they are dead too?" she asked.

Stan could tell that she was getting worked up again. "I'm sure they're fine, sweetie," Stan answered quickly.

"Really?" she asked.

He knew that she was looking at him, with her big puppy eyes. Just the image was more than enough to make him want to do anything to make her happy. "'Course I am," he answered. "If they could survive something like Weirdmaggedon, they can survive this too."

"But mom and dad weren't in Weirdmaggedon..."

Stan rubbed his neck. "Listen, sweetie, let me tell you something about this family. We're Pines'. And if there is one thing a Pines always has been good at, it's surviving on dumb luck. You, Dipper, Ford and me, survived Weirdmaggedon, I survived 10 years on my own, getting banned from more states than I bothered to count, Ford survived in 30 years living in other dimensions," he said and put a hand on her shoulder. "And your parents survived you and your brother for 13 years."

Mabel hesitated. "Gruncle Stan... do you really think that they are okay?"

"Yeah, sweetie. I do," he promised. "So how about that we go find them, huh?"

"Yeah let's do that!" Mabel cheered. She got up, and handed him the bough and helped him to his feet. With the bough supporting his right side, and his left hand on Mabel's shoulder, supporting him on the left, they slowly moved forward.

Stan knew that it had been wrong of him to promise Mabel that everyone was okay. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't be sure that he was right. But what else was he suppose to say: "Sorry kid, but you have to be prepared for the worst, 'cause there is a chance that the two of us are the only ones who survived"? There was no way in hell, that he could tell her that, and if anyone else dare to say something like that to her, and take away her last hope, he would knock out their teeth!

o*o*o*

Ford opened his eyes. Everything was blurry and blood was running from his forehead and down his eyes.

When the wave had hit the cabin, Ford had been forced out of the window as the water had surrounded him. He knew that the worst thing you could do, if you were trapped in a Tsunami, was trying to swim. Instead you should find something to hold onto, to keep yourself above the surface.

The wave had smacked him against palm tree, which he instantly had wrapped his arms around. Ford normally didn't believe in dumb luck, but luckily the tree had been strong enough, to stand against the massive flood. He had dug his nails into the trunk, and held on, despite of all the idioms that had hit him. Something large, had hit him in the forehead, and he knew that if he hadn't had his metal-plate, the swipe would have broken his skull and killed him. He had been let of with a large hole in his forehead and lost his glasses (not that they mattered. His he couldn't see very far, without them, but he was still perfectly cable of walking around).

Ford coughed. He knew that another wave could come in anytime, which meant that he would have to stay up here another few minutes, before it would be somewhat safe to climb down.

But as soon as he moved a little, he realized how much pain he was in. There was no doubt that his left arm was broken and the rest of his body was very sore... Well, he certainly had tried worse, his countless scars could prove that (the only one, that wasn't cause by a dangerous situation, was the one where he had his tattoo removed)...

Ford gritted his teeth, before he started to slide down the trunk. When his feet reached the wet ground, he got a chance to look around. He knew that he hadn't got far away from the hotel but everything was torn beyond recognition. There was nothing but piles of wood-pieces (which he assumed to be the remaining of the hotel), broken chairs, lots of fallen trees, sunshades, seaweed and water, all around him. Ford just stood there, frozen by the sight. It was hard to believe that they had lived in there less than an hour ago... The wave had destroyed everything on it's way, taking every single person with it. Ford felt so sorry for them. They had never know what had been coming, but the elements had shown no mercy... He knew that he had been one of the few lucky ones, who had gotten away with a few brushes.

He didn't even dare to think about how many people had drowned.

His blood ran cold. Oh no… Stanley… The others… His family! What if...? No, they had to be alive. They just had to! Ford knew that the probability for all of them to be okay, wasn't very strong, but he didn't care about that! He had to find them. As fast as possible.

Ford quickly pulled of his shirt, despite the pain in his arm. He ripped one sleeve of and managed to tie it thigh around his head. He then formed a sling with the remaining of the fabric, for his arm.

He didn't care, that people would be able to see his damaged skin. That wasn't important anymore. Stan had tried to convince him, that people wouldn't care what he looked like, but he had been too self-conscious to listen. Ever since he came back, he had been hiding his body under cloth. That was also why he had stayed inside, when everyone had been out at the pool… the computer had just been a justification...

"Stanley!" he called out as he started walking. "Dipper! Mabel! Brian! Patricia!"

Suddenly his foot hit something. Ford looked down and caught sight of a bordeaux idiom, a few inches from his feet. He bended down, ignoring his body's screaming in pain, and picked it up. "Stanley…" he whispered, when he realized what exactly he was holding in his hand. No… no! A part of him knew that this didn't have to mean that his brother was gone, but a stronger part, made his six fingers clench the fez, as he screamed on the top of his lungs: "STANLEY! STANLEY WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"Help..." A very weak cry, reached his ear. Ford instantly turned to where the sound had come from. "Help..."

It wasn't Stan. He could tell by the voice. But even though it wasn't his twin brother, he still felt like he had to help whomever it was. "Where are you?!" he called out.

"Over here," the voice answered, still very weak. "Please help me..."

"I'm coming. Keep talking!" Ford said. He placed the fez on his head.

"Over here," the voice kept calling, as Ford began the search. At first it felt like finding a needle in a haystack. He couldn't see anyone, no matter where he looked. Every time he thought that he was about to find where the person was buried under seaweed, tree pieces or worse, it seemed like the voice would come for a completely different location. Ford assumed that this confusion was caused by the concussion he probably was suffering. No matter what, he couldn't give up. He had to find the person before it was too late. Judging by the weakness in the voice, he didn't have much time.

"Over here..." the voice called once again.

Ford looked around desperately. He couldn't give up... Suddenly he saw something moving nearby the ground. He instantly moved closer, and realized that it was a hand.

"Over here..." The person was covered in seaweed and wood pieces.

Ford fell onto his knees and grabbed the hand. "I'm here," he said.

"F...Ford?" the voice said weakly.

It wasn't before now that Ford realized whom the voice belonged to. It had been too weak for him to recognized before now. "Brian?! Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."

He grabbed onto the seaweed and pulled. It didn't take long before his nephew's eyes met his.

"Ford," he repeated.

"I'm here, Brian," Ford said. "I'll have you out of there in a mome..." Ford's words died, when he pulled away more of the seaweed, that had been covering Brian's stomach. No...

A large piece of wood was sticking out of Brian's torsos. From what Ford could tell from the location, it had gone through his liver and made a fatal injury.

Brian managed to lift his head just enough to see what his uncle was looking at. He turned his head and met Ford's eyes. "There is nothing you, can do, is there?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry," Ford answered, and shook his head. There really was nothing to do. Even a surgeon who had the right equipment's would have difficulties saving him. Ford knew that the younger man only had minutes left. He turned his head and met Brian's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Brian swallowed visibly. Tears started to run from his eyes, as he reached for Ford's hand. Ford instantly grabbed it. "I'm sorry, that I never was able to treat you like everyone else," he said. "You deserved better. Please forgive me..."

Ford shook his head. "Don't think about it. I've never blamed you."

"Thank you," Brian said. "Ford... could you..." Brian began, but didn't seem to be able to finish his sentence. He was too weak.

"I'll do anything," Ford said. Anything in his power to make up for his fatal mistake.

"Please... Find my family," Brian begged, looking into Ford's eyes. "Make sure that they are safe... and... Tell them, that I love them."

"I will," Ford said. "I promise, Brian."

Brian smiled weakly and nodded. His eyes became distant and Ford felt the hand loosened it's grip.

"Brian?" he said quietly, but the other man didn't respond. Ford knew that he was gone, but he couldn't accept it. "Brian? Brian!"

He finally managed to bring himself to try to find the pulse. There was none. He was gone. His nephew was dead.

"I'm sorry," Ford said. His voice cracked as his eyes was filled with tears. "I'm so sorry!" he cried out, as he leaned over his deceased nephews body. Even though he had never really gotten to know Brian, he would do anything, if it could bring him back. Ford knew that it was impossible, but he wished that he could take his place. What had he done? Oh God, what had he done? This was all his fault... he should never have invited them here... Once again he had brought the people he loved in danger, because he wanted to do something good. All he wanted, was for his family to have good time... A good time with him... But instead he had taken away Patricia's husband. He had basically killed the twin's father... And possibly them too.

"I'm so sorry!"


	3. Chapter 3

All Dipper and Patricia could do, was wait on the top of the car roof, and watch as the seawater drifted past them, dragging all kinds of things with it… It didn't take long for Dipper to realize how badly his mother actually was hurt: the back of her right thigh had been ripped open and blood was running from it and down on the blue car roof where she was sitting. She tried to stop the bleeding with her hand, but it was useless. They had to get something done about that, before she lost too much blood. If only one of them had been wearing a shirt or something...

Dipper carefully moved towards the side of the roof.

"Mason?" Patricia asked, removing the arm she had been holding around his shoulders.

"I just have to check something," Dipper answered. He moved behind his mother and laid down on his stomach, to spread his weight. He didn't even dare to think about what would happen if the palm tree, holding car was pushed out of position, but he knew that it would make the stream take the car…

Dipper looked over the side of the roof and through the broken window. When he had looked inside of it earlier, all he had thought about was finding someone so he wasn't alone. He hadn't noticed if there was anything useful in there, but as he looked again, it didn't seem like it. He didn't really know what he had expected to find, but he had hoped for something… anything that could stop his mother's bleeding. But the only fabric was material the seats were made of. Damn it!

He was about to go back up, when he suddenly caught sight of something. The floor in the car was covered in dark water, at least 10 inches deep, but he was sure he could see something…

"Mom, can you lean more to the left?" he called.

Patricia shifted her weight making the car tip a bit. "Why do you want me to do that?"

"I'm going inside the car." Dipper slipped down from the roof and onto the trunk of the palm tree. He had to do this very carefully. The slightest wrong move could make the tree go lose or the car tip, so they would be forced with the stream. He couldn't open the door, so he would have to go through the window.

Still holding onto the roof, he lifted his leg and stepped into the car. He tried to ignore the feeling of the soaked seats against his skin as he'd bend down and crawled inside. He sat down onto the seat, breathing heavily. That could have gotten very wrong, but luckily it hadn't.

Dipper sighed, before he slowly leaned to his left, where he had seen the object. His hand disappeared down into the water, where it soon met what it was looking for. He wrapped his hand around the lug and pulled the pink bag up beside him. It was heavy and Dipper hoped that it wasn't just because of the water as he unzipped the largest room. There was no doubt that it had belonged to a girl. There was a magazine about some Thai boy band, a purse with make up, sunglasses, keys, headphones… There were even two cans of soda.

Dipper opened the smaller room, hoping to find a shirt or just some kind of fabric! But there was nothing. Dipper let his hand search through the whole room, until he finally felt something cold against his skin at the bottom. He wrapped his hand around the object and pulled it up. A cell phone! Yes! Now they could call for help!

He was about to scream: "MOM I FOUND A PHONE!" when his common sense overruled his euphoria. Just like everything else in the bag, the phone was soaked. Dipper pressed the switch, but the screen remained black. Oh man, what was he gonna do?

Great uncle Ford had once told him that you would have work with what you'd got. Dipper looked through the stuff again. He would have to be creative. But he couldn't think of a single good thing nail polish and mascara could do… It wasn't until he found the nail file that he got an idea. He took it from the purse and jabbed it into the seat beside him. He pushed the file away from himself cutting through the fabric. He stretched his arm as much as he could, but suddenly the car started to tip!

"Mason!" his mother gasped.

Dipper felt his heart skip a beat as he could hear the water splashing around the car. He slowly moved back in sitting position and didn't dare to move, until the car was still again. That was close. "It's alright, mom," he called, even though his heart was beating hard, from what he nearly had caused.

"Mom?" he called out. "Could you lean a little to the right?"

"Wh.. What are you doing down there?"

"I need to get something in the left side. But if I lean too much to the left, it will get the car out of balance."

He could hear his mother's voice shaking. "Okay… okay… tell me how much I have to lean."

Dipper took a deep breath. "I need you lean a little bit now," he said and leaned towards the right side where he had been cutting, feeling the car tip. "A little more, mom!"

Patricia did as he said, bringing the car back in poise. Dipper stuck the file into the seat again but instead of cutting further towards the door, he turned the file and cut towards the front seat. When the piece was long enough he turned the file again and started to cut back towards himself. "Mom, I'm gonna need you to lean back to the left."

Patricia did as he said and Dipper moved back, as he cut the rest of the piece loose. He put the nail file back into the purse, before he grabbed the fabric and mangled it into a small roll. Dipper chuckled when he almost was able to hear Mabel calling it a seat-burrito or something like that. She could always say something silly to cheer him up, whenever he was feeling down. But she wasn't here right now. In fact he had no idea where she was at, or if she was okay…

 _"Dipper!"_  She had screamed his name, before they had been torn apart…

Dipper shook his head, and wrung the roll before he put it into the bag, with the purse. He swung it over his shoulder, and carefully climbed out the window and back to the top of the car.

"There you are," his mother gasped. Her voice sounded both nervous and relieved, almost sounded like he had been gone for hours.

"Yeah," he said and opened the bag. "I found something for your leg." He pulled out the fabric and rolled it out onto the roof, where he tried to brush of most of the dirt. He really wished that he had had some clean bandages instead of dirty upholstery. "I'm afraid that this will have to do."

"I'm sure it's fine," Patricia mumbled and reached for it, but Dipper pulled it away. "Let me do it, mom." For some reason, he felt like he had be the one, who did it. He needed to do something to help his family, even if it couldn't change anything that had happened.

Patricia just pulled back her hand and nodded, as her son folded the fabric and started dressing her leg. Patricia gritted her teeth, when it was pressed against her open wound. Dipper looked up, when he noticed his mother's pain, but she just told him to continue.

"It looks very professional," Patricia said, trying to suppress the pain in her voice as she looked at her son's work. "Did you learn that in school?"

"No," Dipper answered. "I mean we did learn to bandage a wound, but great uncle Ford taught me to do this instead. It's more sustainable."

"He has taught you a lot, hasn't he?" Patricia asked. She knew that Ford had shown Dipper some of his research, and that her son looked up to the older man, but for some reason he had never really talked about it.

"Yeah. He has," Dipper mumbled and tied the knot.

"Honey," Patricia said. She reached out and lifted his head by the chin. "I know that you're worried about him." She could hear it in his voice.

Dipper met his mother's eyes. They seemed so full of understanding and care. They were almost telling him:  _"It's okay, you can cry. Mommy is here."_  Dipper felt a lump form in his throat, but he didn't feel like crying. Not right now.

"I'm not, mom," he answered shaking his head. Although he didn't like to think about it, the Tsunami couldn't have been worse than some of the things his uncle had met in the multiverse, or the days where Bill had tortured him. "Trust me. If anyone can survive this, it's Ford." But the others… he was not that sure...

Patricia hesitated, considering whether she should tell her son that he shouldn't get his hopes up. But he really sounded like he believed it, and she wanted to believe it too. "You're probably right," she said instead. "After all, you two are very much alike."

Dipper just made a small smile. "I'm not nearly as smart as him."

Patricia stroked her son's cheek. "Oh, honey, you are, very smart," she said. "But you can't compare yourself to your uncle like that. He has been a scientist for 40 year, and you haven't even started high school. Someday, I'm sure that you'll be at least as successful as him."

"Thanks, mom," Dipper answered. Somehow it made his smile a little wider, but that was not enough for Patricia. Even though she probably shouldn't, she wanted to give her son back some of the hope there was left, for a happy future.

"You know, if you asked him, he would probably let you help him out doing some of his research some time. He might even be able to give you some good applications for college."

College? That was the last thing Dipper wanted to think about right now. All that was really important was finding the rest of his family! But then again, he knew that his mother was only trying to cheer him up, and he didn't want to make anything worse for her. Not to mention, that they were sitting ducks, until most of the water was gone, so they might as well pass the time with some random talking. "Actually we've been doing a lot of research together."

"You have?" Patricia asked with a raised brow. He hadn't mentioned that before.

"Yeah, when we visited Gravity fall in the summer. I'd found some of his old reached and I wanted to help him out. At first he refused my help. I guess he wanted me to enjoy my childhood and not spend it in a lab coat, but then he saw my potential," Dipper explained, thinking back at the best summer ever. "He even offered me an apprenticeship."

"That would be a great opportunity for you," Patricia said, sounding very proud.

"Yeah," Dipper shrugged his shoulders. "But I turned it down. I would rather spend my high school years with Mabel, handling everything together, like we've always done."

Patricia hesitated, but then she just nodded. She had always been so proud that her children got along so well, and she had dreaded the day it would end. Even though it would have been very good on Mason's resume, she was still happy that he had done what he had felt was for the best.

Dipper grabbed the bag again. "I found some soda cans. Would you like one?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Patricia answered. They drank the cans in silence, watching the water stream by. None of them could help thinking about the others. Where they okay? Where were they? Were they even alive? And would they find them?

When the water was low enough, they left the car. Dipper supported his mother the best he could, in spite of his body still being sore from getting hit by several objects when the wave had flushed over them. They had to find other people. Someone who could help Patricia, and help them find the others.

o*o*o*

"Dub di du, going downstairs for breakfast," Soos sang.

Melody was already in the kitchen with abuelita, who was teaching her to make pancakes. Abuelita was so happy that Soos had finally found a girl to settle with, but she had to make sure that this girl was able to take care of her grandson, here among make his pancakes exactly as he liked them.

"That smell sure delicious," Soos said and sat down at table, that had already been laid.

"Here you go, honey," Melody said as she placed a plate full of pancakes in front him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks. Uhm, these are delicious!" he said with his mouth full.

Melody and abuelita sat down as well enjoying their breakfast, even though pancakes didn't taste just like when abuelita made them.

"Don't worry, you'll learn soon," abuelita said.

"I'm glad that you've fate in me, Mrs. Ramirez… erh abuelita," Melody said. She had only moved in with Soos and his grandmother in the Shack a few months ago, and she had had a little hard time, to get used to calling Soos grandmother abuelita, instead of Mrs. Ramirez, but she was getting better at remembering it. She smiled at Soos who was basically shoveling the pancakes into his mouth, but stopped and smiled back, when he realized that she was looking at him.

He just loved her smile. And her hair. And everything else about her. He was so happy she had moved in here. In fact he had been very happy the past months! Sure he missed the twins and Mr. Pines when they weren't here, but they had left him with a mission: He had to make sure that the Mystery Shack would remain running. Mr. Pines had made him the new Mr. Mystery. It had been the proudest day, in his life, and it had assured him that all his hard work had paid of. Mr. Pines trusted him and Soos would do anything in his power to live up to that trust and make Mr. Pines proud of him!

Soos had almost finished his plate, when his phone rang.

"Soos, no phones at the table."

"Sorry, abuelita, but it's Wendy. I promise to make it quick," Soos said and left the table. She had promised to help out creating some new attractions for the Mystery Shack. "Sup, dude?"

 _"Soos, turn on the TV!"_  Wendy said. She sounded like she had seen something very scary, which had to be very bad, since she had grown up in Gravity falls.

"But I'm in the middle of my breakfast."

_"I don't care, turn it on now!"_

"All right, all right," Soos said and walked to the living room. "What channel?"

_"Channels 5. They're showing the global news."_

Soos followed the orders and turned on the TV. The screen instantly shoved water, filled with all kinds of stuff, streaming past buildings and palm trees. People were screaming, trying to swim against the strong stream or at least stay above the surface…

 _"Largest tsunami in 40 years hit Southern Asia,"_  it said in the bottom of the screen.

 _"...Across six countries in Southern Asia, the death toll is now rising as the terrible picture of damage emerges…"_  the news reporter said in the background.

Soos felt his body freeze. "Dude… isn't that where the Pines' went for Christmas?" he asked nervously.

 _"Yes it is,"_  Wendy said.  _"I just turned on the TV and saw it."_

"Oh my gosh! Do you think they are alright?"

 _"I… I don't know, but…"_  Wendy answered.  _"They said that lots of people are either dead or missing."_

"Oh no!" Soos felt the tears fill his eyes.

 _"Hey! That doesn't have to mean anything, you hear me?!"_  Wendy almost yelled.  _"Maybe they managed to get to safety."_

"But… but what if they didn't?" Soos asked, still staring at the screen shoving the disaster. "What are we gonna do, dude?"

"L _et's try to call them. I'll try to reach Dipper and Mabel, while you try Stan and Ford, okay?"_

"Yeah, okay." They hung up and Soos found Mr. Pines' number with shaking hands and pressed the screen.

When he held the phone to his ear, it was like everything around him, went blurry. He didn't see the colors of the walls or hear the sound the TV. All he could hear was the phone ringing, and every time it did, it felt like his heart got even heavier from poor edginess that was turning into fear. He didn't know how long he kept listening to the repeating sound of his phone trying to connect to Stan's phone.

He kept waiting for Stan to pick it up, with a grunting sound, say something like:  _"Stan Pines speaking."_  He would probably pick it up anytime now. Soos would just have to be patient, that was all. Anytime now…

"Soos?" he heard a voice say. He was ripped back into reality, where Melody suddenly was standing in front of him.

The phone was still ringing in his ear.

"Soos?" Melody called again, when he just kept staring at her. "Are you alright? What's happening?"

"I…" Soos said. "There has been a tsunami… in Asia… Where the Pines family is at."

Melody gasped and covered her mouth.

"I'm trying to call Mr. Pines, but… He is not picking up…"

Melody reached up and cupped his face.

Tears was running from his eyes as he let his hand holding the phone, fall to his side. "I… I don't know what to do…"

Melody wrapped her arms around him. It was the only thing she could think of doing. Soos cried onto her shoulder and the sound made abuelita rush into the living room, hugging him as well, trying to comfort him, even though she wasn't sure about what was going on. And that didn't matter either. Soos was sad and she had to help him no matter what.

"I..I'll try to call, Ford," Soos said and dried his eyes. He pressed the screen and held the phone to his ear. The two women just watched him, as the result was the same as before. Soos just shook his head as he once again removed the phone from his ear.

"I'm gonna call Wendy. She would call Dipper and Mabel… Maybe they picked up?" For the third time he placed the phone at his ear.

She picked up immediately.  _"Soos! Please tell me, that you have more luck than I did."_

"No… none of them answered…" Soos felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach.

 _"Soos what are we gonna do?"_  Wendy asked.

"I don't know!" Soos almost yelled.

 _"But it's always you who has the answers!"_  Wendy said with a tearful voice.

"But I don't have them this time!" For the first time in his life, he didn't know how to help the people he loved...

_"I'm sorry… Soos I didn't mean to say that. I'm just so worried… We've got to do something…"_

But what?


	4. Chapter 4

"DIPPER!"

"FORD!"

"MOM!"

"BRIAN!"

Stan didn't know how many times they had been screaming the names on the top of their lungs. He could feel his throat going sore, but that didn't matter to him right now. All that mattered was finding the others. But for every step he took, it seemed more and more hopeless… Yes, he had told Mabel that they were a bunch of survivors, and he had believed that, at the time, but... the doubt was growing inside him.

At first he had been brushing it off, telling himself what he had told Mabel, but for every step he took, for every time he called out a name, and no one would call back, he couldn't help wondering: What if he was wrong? What if they were… not okay? No! He couldn't go down that road, he had to keep his hopes up. Otherwise he would be no good for anyone…

This was just like back when he accidently had pushed his brother through the portal, and he had worked as hard as he could, to save him - Or well not `just like´, but in the beginning, he had believed that it wouldn't that hard to fix and Ford would be back in no time… But as the months past and he realized how big a mess he had entangled himself in this time, the doubt had started to creep around in his mind… He wondered all the time, where his brother was… And more important: what kind of weird stuff would he meet there? He had tried not to think about it, but he would often wake up gasping for air, all wet with sweat because of nightmares about Ford, being killed by some kind of monster or what ever it had been.

Stan had kept telling himself that it was just some stupid dreams… But some stupid voice in his head kept saying  _"What if…?"_

But in spite of all that, he hadn't given up back then. He had kept going no matter how much time or power it had taken. And he would have to do the same now! No matter how much his body hurt, no matter how tired he was, he had to continue… Because deep down, he knew that this was all his fault. It had been his idea to go on this stupid trip in the first place! If he had just been supportive to Ford's idea, they wouldn't have been in this damned situation right now. They could have been sitting in the Shack safe and sound by now. They would probably have invited the kids to Gravity falls for the Christmas holidays and they would be enjoying themselves just like they did in the summer (except from the whole Bill and Weirdmageddon shit).

But  _no_! He absolutely had to convince Ford that this would be a good idea and bring almost everyone he cared about in danger!

Stan heard Mabel gasp again and he gave her shoulder a light squeeze. She had gasped almost every time she had seen a dead body. Stan knew that this wasn't good for her, but there was nothing he could do to prevent her from seeing them. If she had been on her own, she could just have run past it all, until she ended up somewhere safe, but instead she had to walk very slow to support him.

Stan tried to put as little pressure on Mabel's shoulder as possible, but it wasn't easy, when he also had to hold up his balance. Not to mention that his bad eyesight made him want to cling to her, since she was the one leading them. If he had been on his own, he would probably just have stayed put, where he had woken up.

But even with Mabel guiding and supporting him, Stan still ended up stepping on something, that made his leg disappear under him, and he fell to the ground, landing on his back.

"Gruncle Stan!" Mabel exclaimed, instantly putting her hands on his arm.

"I'm okay, pumpkin," he answered quickly. At least the fall didn't make the pain in his body  _that_  much worse.

"C..can you get up?"

"Of course, just give me a moment…" He pressed his hands onto the ground, using all of his strength. It hurt like hell, and he had only managed to raise himself about a few inches from the ground, before his muscles gave up and he collapsed on the ground again. Dammit.

"Gruncle Stan?" Mabel asked carefully.

"I'm sorry, Mabel," Stan panted. "I can't."

"Y..yes you can!" Mabel answered. "We've been walking very far. You just need a little rest, and you be as good as new!"

"I'm afraid, that I won't, kid. Urh… It's no use." His body was giving up. He could feel it. It had been screaming for food and water for a while now, but he hadn't been able to give it to it. He was practically a cripple at this point!

"Yes. Come on! You can do it, gruncle Stan." She started to pull his arm, but Stan grabbed her hand. "No. You're gonna have to go on without me, kid."

"No… NO!" Mabel said with a tearful voice.

"Listen…" Stan tried.

"Gruncle Stan, please..." Mabel shouted.

"Kid…"

"Don't make me go alone…"

"You have to…"

"I don't wanna leave you!" Mabel cried on the top of her lungs. "Gruncle Stan, please! I don't know where I am or… or where anyone is or if they're okay… All I've got is you, and now you're telling me to leave you too?!"

Stan felt like she was stabbing him in the guts. He hated the thought of her leaving him here, but he had to think of what would be best for her, not himself. He couldn't just let her stay here with him. The mighty gods - or whatever was suppose to be up there - knew how long it would be, before anyone found them and Mabel had been without food and water for a while too. It was no use that both of them starved to death. "Listen, kid. I know that you don't want to go, but you have to! I mean, think about it: we've been walking a long time, but you could've gotten twice as far, if I hadn't been slowing you down. Without me, you'll find the others much faster and then you can come back for me."

He could hear her sobbing. "Gruncle Stan… I'm scared."

"I know." He was scared too. "But you have to be brave, okay? Be brave for your brother… for yer parents... for all of us. You can do that."

Mabel rubbed her eyes. She then kneeled down and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I… I promise that I'll come back for… for you, gruncle Stan. I'll get help! The biggest and most awesome help you've ever seen!"

"Thanks, pumpkin. Now go!"

Mabel got up, still sobbing. She then turned around and ran in the direction they had been going. Gruncle Stan was right. She had to do this. No matter how much it hurt her to think about that she was leaving him behind and that she was gonna be alone in a big country she had never been to before… "Come on, Mabel you can do this," she mumbled to herself. "Dipper would do the same for you!"

Gruncle Stan believed in her. He believed that she could do it, and she couldn't let him down! Not after everything he had done for her and Dipper! She couldn't even count the times Stan had save them… He had saved them from dynamite, bashed down zombies, sacrificed his mind... He had even punched a pterodactyl in the face, to save Waddles for her. She had to do this… she had to!

"Hey! Are you okay?" she suddenly heard someone call.

Mabel stopped, looking around, but she couldn't see anyone. She could tell that it had been a man who had called, but it didn't belong to anyone she knew. "Hello?" she called. "Is someone there?"

"I am, little lady," the voice said. Mabel looked around, and suddenly she saw a tall, skinny man with dark hair walking towards her. He was only wearing a pair of swimming trunks and a yellow, tank top. Dried stripes of blood were running down his arms and legs from what seemed to be a lot of small cuts. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah… I'm okay," Mabel answered, trying to sound normal, but she was out of breath after running so far.

"What's your name?" the friendly voice asked.

"I'm Mabel," Mabel answered. She felt a bit calmer, now that she wasn't alone anymore. "What's yours?"

"My name is Karl," he answered. "So, Mabel, are you looking for your family?"

"Yes..."

Karl's eyes suddenly seemed sad, but he was still smiling. "Me too, Mabel. Maybe we can help each other?" He reached out a hand towards her. "Come with me. I know a place you can get some cloth, maybe even something to eat."

Mabel looked at the hand. It sounded very nice… "No! We can't go!"

Karl raised a brow. "Why not?"

"Because we've got to help my gruncle. He fell and can't get and I promised get help!"

"Oh… Well where is your… erhm… uncle?" Karl answered. "Show me. I'll try to help him."

Mabel's heart heated with relief, and she ran towards Karl, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She let go of the very surprised man, and grabbed his hand, pulling him in the direction she came from. She had got pretty far on her own, but she had been running in a more or less straight line, which meant that she didn't have too much trouble to find back to where she had left her gruncle.

"Gruncle Stan! Gruncle Stan!" she yelled when she could see finally him.

Stan lifted his head, when he heard Mabel's voice from somewhere far-off. It didn't take long before he could see a very blurry shape coming towards him, and suddenly a pair of arms was wrapped around his neck again.

"I found help for you, gruncle Stan!" she gasped, sounding very proud.

"You did?" Stan asked surprised. That sure was fast. Heh, maybe that hadn't run all out of luck, after all?

"She did." Somebody said. Stan caught sight of another blurry shape, he assumed was the one talking. "My name is Karl."

"Stan Pines," Stan answered. "Do you think that you can walk, if I support you?" Karl asked.

"Maybe. But I'm not sure how far."

"The shelter isn't too far from here," Karl said. "I think we can make it. Come on." Karl pulled Stan to his feet, supporting him.

Mabel picked up the stick she had gotten for him. "Here you go, gruncle Stan."

"Thanks, kid," Stan answered. He had to admit that the thought of a shelter gave him back some comfort. Maybe there was hope after all?

o*o*o*

Ford placed the right food in front of the left taking another step through the ruined holiday resort. He had to keep walking… keep walking… keep walking… keep walking… This was how he had kept himself going, on the other side of the portal… every time he had realized that the new dimension he had entered wasn't his own, he had kept telling himself to keep walking. If he didn't, he would never find his way home…

And he had to keep telling himself the same thing now, because he knew that if he didn't, he would stop and collapse, here and now, and he could not allow himself to do that… He had already wasted too much time as it was, when he had been sitting by…

Ford gritted his teeth as the thoughts of his dead nephew made his hand burn… He had no idea how long he had been sitting there, holding Brian's cold hand, but it was like he could still feel the skin against his palm. Even though Ford knew that it was impossible, it almost felt like the touch had left a burn in the flat of his hand…

Ford clenched his fist and speeded up. This was his entire fault. He had brought them here… How could he have brought them here? He should have studied the probability of earthquakes in the Indian Ocean. If only he had done that, this would never have happened. They would be safe in their homes or somewhere else on vacation, maybe Florida, The Caribbean Islands, Madeira, Hawaii or Australia… somewhere warm, like Stan had wanted… far away from here…

He could even have warned the other guests and citizens… The could have been safe now, if only he had studied… His family could have been safe… Brian could have been alive... But he hadn't done that…

Ford rubbed his neck. It had been aching for a while, but he hadn't even noticed that, before he had left Brian.

He had given the young man the closest he could get to a proper burial… by covering him in the very same seaweed, he had been wrapped into by the wave… Hopefully someone else would come along and be able to a more glorious job that he had…

 _"Please... Find my family… Make sure that they are safe... and... Tell them, that I love them."_  Ford could still hear Brian's weak voice, as if he was still lying right in front of him… His very last words...

 _"Find my family… Make sure that they are safe…"_  It had been his last wish and Ford had promised to grant it. He wanted to grant it. To find the others, make sure that they were safe, just as Brian wanted. Ford hoped more than anything that he was able to do it. Not only for Brian's sake, but for Ford's own sake as well… Maybe... if he found the others, he would feel better? Maybe he would even feel like he made amends for his fatal mistake by finding them?

But… what if he couldn't find them? What if they were dead as well? They could have drowned, or been impaled just as Brian…

No!

Ford stopped and closed his eyes. He could not allow his mind to become overwhelmed with that kind of thoughts! Ford took a deep breath. Even though the odds were much against him, he had to remain optimistic. He knew that if Mabel had been here, she would have said the exact same thing… Optimistic thoughts… hmm… given that his family members really were all right, he should probably try to imagine what they were doing…

They would be looking for each other, of course, that was obvious…

But furthermore, Dipper would indubitably be trying to work with what he'd got to get to safety, and signal rescuers.

Mabel would probably be helping every single person she met, either by comforting them or trying to bring them whatever they might need; for instance water or food.

And Stanley would most likely be looking for any kind of objects that hadn't become too damaged by the wave, and try to sell them for a premium! Or maybe he would even try to sell supplies to the destitute people? Ford knew that if Mabel saw him do that, she would scold him, telling him that he should not be taking avenged of the poor people, and Stan would probably say something like: "Listen, kid. I know it seems like a bad thing to do, but think of it this way: Life has given us a large stack of lemons and I'm trying to sell them to convince people that it's not lemons, but… erh… `yellow oranges´. Y'know get the best out of the situation!"

Ford couldn't help smiling by the thoughts. Somehow they made him feel a little better.

At least until he walked straight into something hard. Ford backed away, rubbing his nose. What on earth? He opened his eyes and saw something white in front of him. He reached out to touch it and his palm was met by something hard and cold beneath his palm. What was this…? A wall! Of course! Odd… Even though he had lost his glasses, he should be able to recognize this much faster… Why didn't he?

Ford shook his head. He could not let himself become distracted by such trivial things. He reached up and made sure that Stan's fez was still sitting on his head, before he made his way past the wall and continued. He really needed to be more focused on where he walked.

He managed to rediscover the somewhat warm feeling in his chest, which the thoughts on his family had given him. A small piece of hope. Ford clung himself to that feeling as he started walking again.

He had made use of a similar method the 30 years after he had fallen through the portal, the cold nights where he couldn't find rest; but instead of only using his imagination, he had used the picture from his childhood. He still remembered that day very clearly;

He remembered how Stanley and himself - mostly Stan - had been begging their father to come with them to the beach, and see their project. Hoping that it would be enough to impress the stubborn man. Their father had responded that he didn't want to waste his time on a dumb boat, and they shouldn't be wasting their own time either, but focus on something important. Luckily their mother had heard it all, and asked if she could come see it, since it sounded like a very special project. So they had walked down to the beach and their mother had been very proud of their work. She had found a camera and told them to climb the boat to look like a pair of brave sailors!

Ford could still see the picture before him. His brother and himself standing on the not even half finished Stan O war, with their future ahead of them. They had believed that they could rule the world as long as they were together…

The picture… Oh no! It had been in his suitcase back in his room… It had probably been resolved by the saltwater.

Ford shook his head. He shouldn't be so emotional over an equipment. Sure it had been the only thing that had given him hopes the last 30 years, but he had his real family now, and he had to find them. He was going to stop at nothing to find them! To find all of them! Ford felt the adrenalin pumping in his veins as the goal took shape inside his mind!

To make sure that they were safe. Ford would fulfill his late nephew's last wish, even if it was the last thing he would do! Nothing was going to stand in his way. Whatever this world had planned for him, whatever it was going to subject him to, it could bring it! He was Stanford Filbrick Pines. He was a Pines! A Pines would do anything, give up everything for his family!

"I will find you!" he shouted out loud, walking as fast as he could almost running. "I promise that I will find you!"


	5. Chapter 5

Even though he tried not to, Dipper couldn't help looking at his mother's leg. Blood was running through the fabric he had used to bandage the wound, and down her leg, leaving a long, red trail on the ground behind them.

Patricia tried her hardest to hide the pain from her son, but they hadn't walked very far from the car, before she could barely support herself and was practically hanging on Dipper's shoulders.

Dipper gritted his teeth as he took another step forward. It was times like this, where he needed his strength, that he would silently be thanking Stan he had been so hard of him, to make him stronger. Maybe he wouldn't even have survived the Tsunami, if Stan hadn't toughened him up? If that was the case, gruncle Stan had practically saved his life!

Dipper had never addressed the fact to Stan, that he knew what he was doing. Instead, he had stopped complaining, whenever Stan would tell him to do something, because he knew that the old man only did it, because he cared.

After Weirdmageddon, where they had help Stan recover his memories, Stan had asked how they knew Bill in the first place. Great uncle Ford had admitted that he was the one who had summoned him, and Mabel had explained how Soos and herself had see Gideon do the same, when he had wanted the deed to the Shack. That had led to story about how they had followed Bill into Stan's mind: Dipper had explained how he had used the spell to get them into Stan's mind. Both gruncle Stan and Ford had listened to the story, but instead of saying that he had heard Stan talking to Soos, in his memory, Dipper just said that he had gotten separated from the others and fallen into one of the memories where Stan had helped him find the way to defeat Bill. Mabel had been about to interfere, but luckily she had gotten the hint when she had seen the look in his eyes. She had always been able to understand him, and she understood that Dipper didn't think it would be a good idea to talk about that part of the mindscape adventure. Dipper still remembered the boy he had seen in Stan's memories. He hadn't been able to stand up for himself, but for some reason, Dipper had a theory that it the memory hadn't only been about Stan… As Dipper remembered it, the boy in the memory hadn't had six fingers, but he still had some gut feeling that it had been more about Ford than Stan. Dipper wasn't quite sure about why, the memory was morphed like this but it might have something to do with the fact that Stan had pretended to be Ford for so many years that he had started to see himself in some of the situations, which Ford had experienced?

No matter what, Dipper had since that day, worked his hardest to fight back, whenever the world was against him. But even though he was much stronger now, that he had been less than a year ago, he could feel his muscles screaming that they wanted to give in… Just collapse on the ground…

No! He could do this… He had to! To fight back! His mother needed help… he couldn't let her down! He had to keep going until he found someone who could help them! But… What if he didn't find anyone? What if no one was nearby? He had no idea where they had ended up, after the wave. They could be miles from the hotel, and even worse; miles from other people!

Dipper could feel his heart beating harder from panic again… No, no, no! He had to stay rational. The probability of his mother and himself, being the only ones alive in this area, was pretty small. The wave had flushed every one in somewhat the same direction, which meant that there had to be someone else here… Right…?

"M...Mason," Patricia said so quietly that Dipper barely heard it.

"Yes, mom?"

"I… c..can we take a break?"

"No, mom. We need to get you help," Dipper said, as he kept walking. He feared that if his mother sat down, she wouldn't be able to get back up.

"Mason… please. Just a small break…" Patricia plead. "My leg… I need… to rest…"

"No, mom…" Dipper began, but stopped, when he felt his mother's weight shifting onto his right shoulder. "Mom!" he exclaimed, before both of them fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart…" Patricia's said and reached for his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, but…" Dipper's voice died when he looked at his mother's face. He had never seen her this pale… She could barely keep her eyes open! Of course... She had lost so much blood…

"Mom, we need to continue," Dipper said, as he got back on his feet.

"Honey… I can't…" Patricia breathed. She sounded so tired. "I need... to... a break..." she continued as her neck failed to hold up her head.

"Mom?" Dipper asked, but Patricia didn't answer. She just laid there… Dipper almost couldn't tell, whether she was breathing or not. "Mom!? Mom!" Dipper fell onto his knees beside his mother, and shook her shoulder. "Mom!" No, no, no! This couldn't be happening! It just couldn't! "MOM!"

"Hmm…" Patricia breathed.

Dipper felt a bit of relief, but the danger wasn't over. "Mom, come on!" Dipper said firmly and kept shaking her. "You can't fall asleep!"

"Just… give me… a minute…"

"No!" Dipper yelled. "You need to get up, now!" He grabbed both of her shoulders, pulling her up in sitting position, and pulled her arm over his shoulder. "Come on… get up," Dipper said as he tried to pull his mother to her feet.

Patricia was almost up, when a painful scream escaped her throat, as soon as she'd put too much weight on her wounded leg, and she once again collapsed on the ground.

"Mason, I can't…"

"Mom, please…" Dipper knew that it was useless. His mother was incapable of walking as much as another step. Oh man… What should he do? What choices did he have? He couldn't just leave his mother behind and search for help himself. She would end up falling asleep, and possibly not wake up again.

But on the other hand, he couldn't just sit here… It could take hours before someone found them. Dipper glanced at the bloody fabric. They didn't have that kind of time.

If only he could make some kind of signal, to let other people know that they were here… but how? They would need something to shoot up in the air, something that other people would notice, and at the same time lead them to their location, like an emergency signal.

Or maybe something that could make enough sound for other people to hear them. Some kind of mic to magnify his voice, or something to that could make an SOS-signal? No that was stupid… It had to be something other would see.

But how was he suppose to make that? In the back of his head, Dipper could hear Ford's voice saying: "The key is to be able to work with whatever you've gotten near you"

Dipper looked around, until he decided to root through the nearest pile of tree and other stuff, hoping to find something that could give him an idea, to whatever he could build… But as he dug through the remaining of what seemed have been a house, it felt more and more useless. Even if he did manage to find something useful, Dipper knew that he wouldn't be able to make anything of it… He didn't have the tools or the knowledge to build anything from recycled pieces…

If only Great uncle Ford had been here…

His mother thought that they were much alike, but in Dipper's eyes, there was a huge difference between his uncle and himself. Ford was so much smarter and more creative, than he was. It had taken less than fifteen minutes for him to invent a new kind of light bulb, and it probably wouldn't take more, to make something that could help them in this situation… But he wasn't here. Dipper was…

A part of the boy knew that his mother was right: he couldn't compare himself to Ford like this, but what difference would it do, whether he did or not? They needed help, and Dipper wasn't capable of doing anything useful!

He started to feel like the time Gideon took The Journal from him… He had always gotten the plans from the Journal. It had never really been Dipper, but Ford who had solved their problems.

Dippers stood up, and looked at the pile of useless junk he had been digging through… How could he possibly have thought that he would find anything he could use? It was just stupid…

Dipper looked back at Patricia who was still lying on the ground. Dipper sighed and walked back to her. His legs felt like jelly and he felt to his knees in front of his mother, feeling completely defeated. This was one of those rare times, where Dipper really couldn't see any kind of was out of the problem. His mother was too weak to continue and he couldn't just leave her behind.

Carefully Dipper brushed some hair away from his mother's face and stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry, mom," he mumbled and bowed his head.

"Oj!" suddenly the sound of a voice reached his ears.

Dipper instantly looked up, turning his head around, to find the source of the sound, until he caught sight of two distant men walking towards them. People. Other People. They were not alone.

"Mom look!" Dipper exclaimed, as he started to wave his arms over his head to signal the men. "Other people are coming. They are gonna help us!"

Dipper kept waving his hands, from pure relief, not to mention excitement. They were gonna get help. His mother were gonna get help.

"Over here!"

o*o*o*

Even with the support from Karl, Stan still couldn't walk very fast and it was getting dark when they reached the shelter. The darkness made Stan's vision even worse, if that was possible. He felt Mabel's grip around his wrist tightening, as she exclaimed: "Gruncle Stan, here is so many other people!"

Stan could hear a bunch of voices around him. He couldn't make out what any of them were saying, except from a few words or sentences, but some sounded very upset, angry or crying, others sounded like they were trying to calm down, to one who were upset.

Mabel clung to her gruncle as Karl led them through the crowd. Even though it was dark, she was still able to see the fear and sadness painted in almost every face they came by. She wanted to close her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at them, but a small, hopeful thought prevented her from doing so: when so many people had made it here, maybe, Dipper or her parents or gruncle Ford, was here too? If that was the case, she had to make sure that they wouldn't just end up walking past each other!

"Let's go in here," Karl said. He turned to the right and led them into a tent. There were already a lot of people in there. Some were sleeping, other trying to comfort each other and some were just starring at nothing.

Karl and Mabel, helped Stan sit down on the ground. He groaned, as he finally got to sit down and relax in at least some of his sore muscles.

Mabel sat down beside him, leaning up against him. She was so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open.

"I'll see if I can get you some cloth, and something to eat," Karl stated, before he left the tent.

Stan sighed and rubbed his eyes. He would pay anything for just a somewhat comfortable bad, right now...

"You have a beautiful granddaughter. How old is she?" A woman's voices sounded beside him. Stan looked around, trying to spot who ever had said it. But it was pointless… He wasn't even sure if the woman had been talking to him or someone else… But then again, they just got here, so it would only make sense that it was him, she was talking to…

"She's thirteen," Stan answered, after he had given up trying to look at the woman and just talked as if she was right in front of him. "But, ehr, she's actually not my granddaughter, but my great niece."

"Oh, I see," the woman answered. "I have two grandkids, myself. They live in Denmark." She sounded happy when she mentioned the grandkids, but there was also a shade of sadness in her voice… She was probably afraid that she would never see them again…

Stan bowed his head a bit, not knowing what to say.

"I found you some cloth and some blankets," Karl said as he walked into the tent. "I'm not sure if it fits, but it's the best I could find."

Stan reached out his hand and Karl made sure that the older man was holding onto the grey shirt, before he'd let go. He then shook Mabel's shoulder carefully. "Wake up, little lady. I've got something for you."

Mabel rubbed her eyes and sat up straight. She had just fallen asleep, when Karl woke her up. Karl was holding something yellow in front of her, and it took her a few seconds to realize that it was actually a summer dress!

"Thank you!" she exclaimed and took the fabric from his hands. She stood up and pulled it over her head. It was pretty worn out and at least one size too big, but right now, Mabel was happy to wear something more than just her swimming suit. Maybe she could fix it up later. Some glitter here and there, maybe a couple of bows?

"You look adorable, sweetie," the dark haired lady, who Stan had been talking too, said.

"Thanks," Mabel said and sat down again. "I'm Mabel, and this is my gruncle Stan."

"I'm glad to meet you, I'm Tina," the lady said.

"I'm sorry, little lady," Karl said. "But do you said `gruncle´?"

"Yeah, it's short for great uncle," Mabel explained. "It was Stan's idea, because it's much faster to say."

She clearly remembered the first day they had arrived in Gravity falls. After magically appearing from a large cloud of smoke, Stan had introduced himself like: "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, kids! I'm your great uncle Stan, but just call me `gruncle Stan´. That's much faster, and time is money, you know. Now come inside, unless you wanna get eaten by a bear or something."

Mabel had nodded feeling very excited, while Dipper had sighed and mumbled: "Yep… this is gonna be a long summer…"

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Tina asked, when Mabel's expression visibly became pure sadness.

"I… I just thought about my twin-brother and I…" She felt Stan's comforting hand on her shoulder, as the tears filled her eyes.

"He was here with you?" Karl asked.

When Mabel didn't answer, Stan just nodded. "The whole family were by the pool, when the wave hit us. My erm… my twin-brother was the first to think that something was wrong but, we just brushed it off… Then everything started to shake, and suddenly my nephew was yelling that there was a tsunami coming… I managed to grab Mabel, and just held onto her… I couldn't reach Dipper… If I could, I would have grabbed him too…"

"It wasn't you fault, gruncle Stan," Mabel cried.

Stan pulled her closer and she tried to dry away her tears, but new kept coming. "Come on, pumpkin, we'll find them."

"Th… the l..last thing I..I said to h..him… I… c..called him a..a sissy!" Mabel cried. "But Dipper is no sissy! He is one of the bravest and strongest people I know! I… I always made fun of him… for being so smart…"

All Stan could do, was hold her and keep telling her that they would find the others tomorrow. None of the people around them said anything. They just watched, feeling sorry for them, as Stan managed to get Mabel calm down. The young girl soon fell asleep again.

"Have you called home yet?" Karl asked quietly.

"No. I lost my phone," Stan mumbled.

After a bit of hesitation, Karl said: "You can borrow mine."

From the movement of the shapes, Stan could only guess that he was reaching a cellphone towards him.

"I've been saving my battery. In case my family call. Come on… call your home."

Stan shook his head. "I've got no money to pay you…"

"I don't want money," Karl answered. He grabbed Stan's hand and put the phone in it. "I want you to take the phone and call the people who are worried about you!"

Stan gazed towards his hand. "I can't," Stan sighted. "I can't even see the buttons."

Suddenly someone grabbed his other hand. "Maybe these can help," Tina said and carefully placed something in his palm. "They belonged to my Henry. He was blind as a bat, so I always carried around and extra pair. In case he would need them… He won't need them anymore…"

This was one of the few times where Stanley Pines found himself completely speechless… These people, were in at least as many problems as he was… and yet they were helping him… giving him everything they could, even though they needed it themself… and they wouldn't even take money for it…

Stan hesitated, but then he put on the glasses and looked around. They didn't have the right power for his eyes, and things were still a bit blurry, but at least he could tell the people around him apart. Every single person around him was making small encouraging nods, waiting for him to dial the number.

Stan looked down at the cellphone in his hand. "Thank you," he heard his own raspy voice say. He then took a deep breath before he dialed the first number that came to his mind.

The phone rang once… twice… before an out of breath voice, as if he had ran to the phone, as soon as he heard it ringing, said:  _"Mr. Pines?"_

"Yes, Soos, it's me," Stan answered.

 _"Everybody, it's Mr. Pines!"_  Soos called, and Stan could hear multiple voices in the background, as if the whole town was there.

_"Mr. Pines are you okay? I heard about the wave on the news and I tried to call you, but none of you answered your phones and…"_

"C.. calm down, Soos," Stan said, but his voice started to crack… damn it, he had to hold it together! "I'm okay… and so is Mabel."

_"What about the others?"_

"I… I don't know…" Tears started to fill his eyes… "We haven't been able to find any of them… They were flushed away by the wave..." Stan bowed his head and sniveled...

 _"Oh… dude…"_  Soos started to cry.

 _"Soos, give me the phone,"_  Stan heard Wendy say softly. _"Come on, give it to me… Thanks. You just sit, down I'll handle this."_

Meanwhile, Stan wasn't able to fight the tears any longer and he covered his eyes with his free hand. He felt a pair of arms gently wrap around him, trying to give him some kind if comfort.

 _"Stan are you there?"_ Wendy asked.  _"Dude?"_

"Y..yes, Wendy…" Stan answered.

 _"Stan listen to me,"_ Wendy said firmly.  _"I know it's hard, but you've got to pull yourself together, okay? It's not gonna help anyone, that you just sit there and cry."_

Stan took a deep breath. Normally he would have gotten angry that she dared to speak to him in that way, but he knew that she was right. Tears weren't gonna help Dipper or Ford or Trisha or Brian, wherever they were.

"You're right…" Stan mumbled and took another deep breath. "Wendy listen. Tell the others that I will find them, okay? It's night right now, but tomorrow I'll look in all the hospitals… I'll look everywhere. I promise that I won't stop before I've found them all."

 _"Good,"_  Wendy said. She really sounded like she believed in him. "Call us when you do."

"I will. Wendy I've got to go, other people need the phone." Stan hung up and gave the phone back to Karl.

"Can I go with you?" Karl asked.

Stan just nodded. The pure guy probably wanted to find his family too.

Despite how tired he was, Stan didn't get much sleep that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm really sorry that it took so long, but here is chapter 6

Patricia's chest was moving up and down very slowly, under the white blanket. Dipper was sitting beside the hospital bed, just looking at her… Watching her breath. Watching her eye, swell and turn black, making the rest of her face seem even paler. She had been unconscious since they got here. He didn't even know how long they had been here. There was no watch nearby, but with all the people running around in commotion, it felt like hours. He removed his eyes from his unconscious mother and looked around. People, were still running past him all the time. Men, women, boys, girl. Many of them were stained in blood, dirt and brushes… Some were crying, some seemed very lost, looking around, probably trying to find their families or friends...

Dipper couldn't help thinking, that if Soos had been here, he would have found some way to help them out. That guy just had a heart for helping people. Oh Man… He actually really wished that Soos was here...

Suddenly Dipper's eyes caught sight of an elderly man, standing at the other end of the room, with a hunched back. Could it be? Maybe he had been brought to here to get medical attention? Or maybe he hadn't got too hurt by the wave, and had come to look for them?

Dipper, got up from the chair, about to call out his gruncle's name, when the man turned around. He sat back in the chair, with a disappointed sighed. This was the fourth time he had mistaken someone he had seen from Stan, Ford, Mabel or his dad, and every time, he had gotten disappointed. The three first times had happened on the way to the hospital. The two men had brought them to more people, who had tried to nurse Patricia but quickly given up. Among the people, he had seen a tall man with brown hair, from the corner of his eye. His heartbeat had sped up, in the short second it had taken him to remove his eyes from his mother and turn his head, only to realize that it wasn't his dad who was standing near him. Just some strange. Dipper hadn't been able to understand what the people had said, but he could only assume that they had agreed that his mother needed professional medical attention, before they had lifted her into the back of the truck that had brought them to the hospital. Dipper had been sitting beside her, holding her hand.

They hadn't driven far before he had caught sight of an elderly man , walking on the side of the road. "Gruncle Stan!" he had called, but as soon as they came past the man, Dipper realized that it wasn't him. The rest of the drive he had kept looking for them. Hoping that the next person he would see, was one of his family members. But none of them were.

They had arrived at the hospital and his mother had been rushed through the crowd of other people who needed help. Dipper had had to hold onto the stretcher, to make sure he wouldn't get lost. On his way he could have sworn that he saw great-uncle Ford among the people. He had called out the name, but no one had answered and no one had followed them. Later he had recognized the same man and realized that it wasn't his uncle.

Some doctors, had shortly after, approached the bed, and started examining his mother. Dipper had tried to see what they were doing to her. He wanted to know what was going on. Was she going to be alright? Judging by their tones voices, it didn't look good, and he understood that much, that his mother's leg needed treatment, but other than that he hadn't been able to understand anything of what they said. All he could do was stand there, while they insert a drip in Patricia's hand.

Some nurse had shown up and dragged him a few steps away from the bed, and given him a grey tank-top. It was worn out and at least two sizes too big for him, but he didn't care about that. He just put it on.

From the corner of his eye, he saw, another stretcher rolling past him. A girl with brown hair was lying on it… Mabel… once again, hope took form in his stomach. He knew that he would be able to handle all of this, if his twin sister was with him. Together they would get through this. Just like they had done in weirdmaggedon, right? Dipper finally understood why, Mabel always seemed so positive about things. It was something for her to hold on to, when everything else was failing you.

But then the bed was placed beside the one his mother was lying in, and he had realized that the girl wasn't his sister… Just a strange, unconscious girl. The girl seemed to be around 10 or 12 years old. Even though the girl wasn't his sister, the sight still made his heart drop: Her arm and leg was put in casts, both of her eyes were swollen and on her forehead had a large wound been stitched up.

Dipper didn't want to look at the girl… but he couldn't help himself… Because he knew that it _could_ have been Mabel. It _could_ have been his twin sister, who had gotten this messed up by the tsunami…

And what if she was? What if she was lying somewhere between fallen palms and bricks, needing his help? She could be bleeding out from a wound for all he knew, without anybody to help her! Dipper shot his eyes, trying to push away the image of Mabel, lying pale and helpless somewhere, but it kept flashing before his eyes.

He couldn't just keep sitting here. He had to do something. He had to find her! But where should he begin? She could be miles away from the hospital for all he knew… Or maybe she wasn't? Maybe she was right here? In the same hospital as him?

Well… there was only one way to find out.

He turned back to his mother, who still hadn't woken up. He lifted the covers, and saw that her leg was still red. Good. That made his conscious a little better, but not much. He didn't want to leave her. A part of him feared that if he did so, he risked losing her too...

Carefully he took her limp hand into his own, holding it up to his chest. "Mom?" He asked quietly. "Can you hear me? It's Mason. Mom look… I have to go find Mabel… I don't know where she is, and I know, that I should probably wait for you to wake up… but I can't… I just have to, okay? And then I'll bring her back to you. I promise."

He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his mother's cheek. He then let go of her hand and stood up, leaving his mother's side, and walked out in the throng of people.

Knowing that the world was fighting right now, and to be a hero, he had to fight back.

o*o*o*

"But, gruncle Stan…" Mabel tried again, tears filling her eyes.

Dammit. He hated those big eyes, especially now where he could see them. But he had to find the strength to resist them. It would be better, at least for her. He didn't know what they were gonna find, but he feared they might find something Mabel shouldn't see. Hell, he didn't want to see anything like it himself, but he had to. For the sake of his family. T

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I need you to stay with Tina," Stan said.

Karl helped the young girl up in the truck, and Tina made her sit down beside her wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Just like her mom used to do when she needed to talk about something that made her upset, and usually end with a long warm hug, and when she was really sad, her mom would miav to her – but it didn't feel as good and comforting, as when her mom would do it.

"But Gruncle Stan, I want to help you find the others! You… You can't walk or see right for yourself," Mabel argued desperately.

"Don't worry, little lady," Karl said. "I promise that I'll help your gruncle around."

"Yeah, you see, I'll be fine, pumpkin," Stan said.

Mabel bowed her head.

Dammit, she wouldn't even look at him now. He couldn't stand having his favorite niece being mad at him.

Tina looked from the girl, and reached a hand towards Stan and Karl. "Please, come with us," she pleaded. "You know it's hopeless."

For a moment Stan felt the fury burn inside him. How could she say that, when Mabel was sitting right beside her? How dared she to shatter the kid's hope? His hope? But instead of letting his temper getting the better of him, he did what Ford would have done in his situation, and just shook his head. "I have to keep looking."

The horn honked signing that the truck would take off soon. Stan instantly turned his attention back to Mabel, who still wouldn't meet his eyes. He reached up and took her hand. "Mabel, I've got to go… But I promise that we'll see each other again soon, alright?"

"Stan, we've got to go," Karl said.

Stan nodded. "I'll see you soon, pumpkin." He gave her hand a squeeze before let go, with a way too heavy heart.

Mabel looked up, and saw her gruncle, limping away, with support from Karl and the bough she had found for him. She watched as he managed to get into the back of another truck. He was going to leave behind, alone with strangers. Why? They should stick together in a situation like this, shouldn't they? Mabel might not be the not being the brightest of the bunch, but she did know, that they had been lucky to have ended up the same place, and not getting separated, like they had been from the rest of the family. What if they couldn't find each other again? Then what would happen to her? Just the thought made her stomach hurt, worse than when she ate too many cheese doodles…

The motor inside the truck got turned on. She knew that it would soon start to drive in the opposite direction of where gruncle Stan was going. He was going to look for the others, while she was going to some shelter in the mountains, where all she could do was sit and hope and wait, for gruncle Stan to come get her, along with the rest of the family. She was just gonna be doing nothing, to help the people she cared about…

More tears took form in her eyes. She wanted so badly to find them. To be there, to do something useful. Just like Dipper always did. She knew that he would never just sit somewhere twiddlling his thumbs. He wouldn't just do it, if he were told to do nothing. He would be out there, looking for her. That was probably what he was doing right now, figuring out some smart plan to find her, and the rest of the family. Just like she should be doing right now!

Mabel looked up again and realized that the truck had started driving. No! No! "Wait!" she called out to the driver. "Stop, I wanna get off!"

"No, sweetheart, we're going to the shelter," Tina said.

"No, I can't go!" Mabel yelled. She stood up and host to the edge of the truck. They were already driving very fast... But she had to get off... But the landing would hurt... No she couldn't be afraid. She had to brave like Dipper. She closed her eyes, and imagined, that she was wearing giggletime bouchy-boots, just like Dipper and Gruncle Ford had, when they had fought against when their board game had come to life. Dipper had been brave there, and he would be brave now if he was in her situation. She had to be brave too. For Dipper!

She could feel the truck slowing down. Now was her chance. She took a deep breath before her feet jumped off the edge. She could hear Tina and a lot of the other passengers yelling behind her, before her feet hit the ground. She stumbled forward, failing to regain her balance, before she landed on her stomach. She rolled over breathing quickly, to catch her breath, holding onto her stomach and struggling against the tears caused by the landing. Everything hurt…

She forced herself to sit up, to see the truck still driving around a corner. Good. That meant that they weren't trying to stop her. She managed to get to her feet, still feeling fuzzy from the fall, and walked back the way the truck had driven. Luckily it hadn't got too far, and in spite of how slow she was walking due to the pain, she was soon able to see the place where the other truck was about to take off. Oh no!

They were going to drive away. Drive without her! No, no, no! They couldn't do that! Her feet splashed through the cold mud, as fast as her leg could carry her aching body. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest. She had to… she just had to! She couldn't let them leave her here. If they did, she would be lost forever! She would never see any of the others again. Not Dipper, or mom or dad or Stan or Ford… or Waddels or Soos or Wendy… Candy and Grenda. She was so tired… So out of breath that she could barely see straight. But she didn't care. She had to make it!

_Come on legs, faster, faster!_  She thought, but they weren't listening.

When she finally reached the cabstand, it was empty. She was too late… Still gasping for air, she could see the truck, and she could see gruncle Stan sitting in it. It hadn't gone too far, but every second the distance got bigger and bigger. No… no!

Ooh, if only she had her grappling hook… But she didn't. Her burning legs started moving again. She had to make it, and she had to make it herself. She didn't have any grappling hook and Dipper wasn't here to drag her, or protect her, like he usually would. No, this time she had to use all the Power of Mabel she had in her.

"Gru… Gruncle Stan!" she tried to call, but the words were strangled by her breathlessness. He couldn't hear her…

Mabel was right. Stan couldn't hear her. He was busy wondering if she would be alright. For all he knew she might be the only one of his family that was still alive. God he had never wanted to be more wrong in his life…

"Stan, look!" he heard Karl say. He looked up and followed the man's gaze to behind the truck. His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach, when he realized what Karl wanted him to see. Through the glass he was able to see her stumbling, struggling to catch up with them. "Hey, stop the truck!" Karl called to the driver.

It started to slow down, but it wasn't enough for Stan. "STOP THE TRUCK NOW!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The driver finally managed to do as he was told, and stopped the truck, much to confusion for many of the passengers that hadn't realized what was going on.

Mabel finally reached the truck, practically collapsing at the stairs, gasping for air. Her heart was beating so hard that she almost thought it had been transformed to a kangaroo that was jumping to get out. But she had made it…

"Mabel are you crazy?!" Stan blurred out. He didn't know what else to say, as he stared at his niece, who was still gasping for air, as if she had been running from a bunch of gnomes.

Mabel finally looked up at her gruncle who - in spite of her vision still being cloudy - seemed like he was anything but happy. "Gruncle Stan…" she said, standing up straight and looked up at him, still trying to catch her breath. "You told me… that we… Pines… survive on… dumb luck… But if we want to find the others… We're gonna have to… combine our dumb luck…"

Stan opened his mouth to come with an argument, only to realize that his brain couldn't come up with anything. He was angry, that was for sure. She should have stayed in the other truck that would take her to a safe place, like he had told her to! But once again the stubbornness that ran through the family had struck, and she had done, what she in her heart had felt was the right thing.

Stan looked from Mabel to down the road. The truck she was supposed to be on, was long gone. Damn it! Well it seemed like there was only one thing to do now. "Alright, kid," he sighed and reached a hand down to her.

The other passengers had eventually realized what was going on, or at least thought they did, as they all spoke at once, while the driver tried to make himself heard above all of them.

Luckily Stan knew how to handle a crowd like this: "Alright, alright, everybody calm down!" he called out holding a hand up in the air. The crowd actually got quiet, even the driver, and he continued: "This is my niece, Mabel. She got on the wrong truck before, but now she'll ride with us, got it?"

Mabel waved to the crowd, before she sat down beside Karl.

"And, yes you can drive now," Stan told the driver, when he had sat down himself. He looked at Mabel, who instantly had started small talking with the other passengers. Damn kid. In spite of all he had survived through the years, he had the last year, had a feeling that this kid - with all of her glittering personality, Mabel power, and stubbornness - would be the death of him…

That was the reason he had always been so proud of her.


End file.
